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Found 6327 publications
Ensuring Sustainable Development in Light of Pandemic “New Normal” Influence
Publication Name: Sustainability Switzerland
Publication Date: 2023-09-01
Volume: 15
Issue: 18
Page Range: Unknown
Description:
The study aims to estimate the possibilities of sustainable development, ensuring and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in light of challenges caused by the pandemic’s “new normal”. In this regard, the study employs bibliometric and empirical approaches. Based on the bibliometric analysis results, it is found that the main focus of sustainable development studies during the pandemic is on economic issues (particularly, innovations and strategic decision-making) while also addressing humanitarian problems such as ensuring health and well-being. To find the practical problems in ensuring sustainable development during the pandemic period, we used the case of Ukraine with appropriate empirical analysis at two levels. Therefore, we estimated the achievements of SDGs compared to planned indicators for 2020 (as the last report data available for this study). As a result, the low level of achievements is proven; particularly, only 20% of planned indicators are fulfilled with planned values. Moreover, the sociological research is conducted to reveal the subjective perceptions of the pandemic’s influence on the possibilities of achieving SDGs. The survey was conducted during the second pandemic wave in December 2020–January 2021, involving 416 respondents. The obtained results confirmed the ambiguous influence of the pandemic. On the one hand, the positive changes are typical for healthcare services and distance learning. However, the negative influence of the pandemic’s “new normal” on SDGs is confirmed by respondents through their concerns about the effects of the pandemic on the development of investments and agricultural technologies as well as the progress in goals, such as “Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure” and “Sustainable Cities and Communities”.
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.3390/su151813979
DEM analysis of crushing evolution in cemented granular materials during pile penetration
Publication Name: Computers and Geotechnics
Publication Date: 2023-09-01
Volume: 161
Issue: Unknown
Page Range: Unknown
Description:
The present study demonstrates that the 3D discrete-element method provides a practical model approach to visualize the cemented grain crushing evolution under pile penetration. A combined method using a rigorous breakage criterion based on octahedral shear stress (OSS) was implemented in the particle flow code PFC3D. First, the pile penetration is simulated by considering the grains as uncrushable with a screening of highly stressed grains exceeding the threshold defined by the OSS failure condition. Then, the simulation is repeated where crushable agglomerates replace the highly stressed grains. This method is more accurate than the replacement method and more efficient than the agglomerate method. A quarter of the numerical model was considered after validation to achieve an acceptable computational time for parametric studies. Parametric investigations were performed on the effects of particle crushing, boundary conditions, pile tip shape, and pile penetration velocity on the penetration resistance behavior. In agreement with the observations of the physical calibration chamber, the present results indicate that the proposed modeling approach is reliable in reproducing the concentration of crushed granular material particles in the vicinity of the pile tip and shaft. In addition, grain crushing has been found to reduce both penetration and shaft resistance.
Open Access: Yes
Electricity Market Dynamics and Regional Interdependence in the Face of Pandemic Restrictions and the Russian–Ukrainian Conflict
Publication Name: Energies
Publication Date: 2023-09-01
Volume: 16
Issue: 18
Page Range: Unknown
Description:
Electricity constitutes a significant part of the consumption basket of European households and companies. Since energy products are essential components of almost all products and services, any change in energy prices directly impacts the general price level of those products and services. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of power exchange data between 2019 and 2022. For the analysis, we examined the data of 15 countries. In the research, we compared electricity prices in European power exchanges using the Jaccard similarity index and the overlap coefficient, using the DAM hourly prices between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2022. We transformed the time series into networks using the visibility graph procedure and compared the networks of the studied countries using the two comparison methods with the degree distribution functions. Our aim is to examine how the market anomalies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian–Ukrainian conflict affect European electricity markets and how quickly the repercussions spread across the studied countries’ exchanges, and whether they show persistent or anti-persistent characteristics. The results support that similar market effects significantly influence the pattern of price changes among the countries. The methods forming the basis of the research can provide significant assistance in analyzing market trends and contribute to a better understanding of market processes.
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.3390/en16186515
Model for action and cooperation on accessible tourism: Act-model
Publication Name: Handbook of Research on Innovation Differentiation and New Technologies in Tourism Hotels and Food Service
Publication Date: 2023-08-25
Volume: Unknown
Issue: Unknown
Page Range: 302-326
Description:
The study highlights the importance of accessible tourism, presents the actors of accessible tourism, including people with reduced mobility, and discusses their opportunities in tourism. The aim of the authors is to describe the ACT model and demonstrate its use in tourism. Creating an accessible environment provides comfort not only for people with reduced mobility but for almost everyone, so it has greater potential even from an economic point of view. The ACT model was born from the information obtained during the research in Hungary and summarizes and illustrates well what actors are involved in the topic of accessible tourism and what kind of relationship exists between them. Each actor and factor of the three levels of the theoretical model are important in order to ensure that accessibility is achieved, and that disabled people can participate in tourism in the same way as non-disabled people.
Open Access: Yes
A comprehensive, semi-automated systematic literature review (SLR) design: Application to P-graph research with a focus on sustainability
Publication Name: Journal of Cleaner Production
Publication Date: 2023-08-20
Volume: 415
Issue: Unknown
Page Range: Unknown
Description:
Because of the vast number of academic products with focus on sustainability being currently generated, it is becoming exceedingly difficult and time-consuming to perform accurate literature reviews that have actual relationship with such a topic and correctly reflect its state of the art. Thus, this work proposes a comprehensive Systematic Literature Review (SLR) design as a novel approach for collecting the body of contributions for any given research field in general and sustainability in particular. This design is guided by a semi-automated procedure that aims at incorporating the best automation features of earlier SLRs and involves available scientific databases, e.g., Scopus and Web of Science. The results of the proposed SLR design include bibliometric analyses, a list of researcher and institution networks, and a qualitative assessment of practical applications of the field of interest. Moreover, the proposed semi-automated approach allows for the inclusion of subject categorization based on the generation of author-density maps and keyword co-occurrence networks. For illustration, the semi-automated SLR design is implemented by thoroughly reviewing the contributions pertaining to the P-graph (Process Graph) framework with a focus on sustainability. The P-graph framework has been applied to multiple areas, such as network design, optimization, and system integration; in particular, the framework has proven to be useful for the development of sustainable systems. Upon execution, the semi-automated SLR design collected 284 contributions related to P-graph, of which 139 were classified as sustainability-related, and further partitioned into specific categories. It is expected that the proposed semi-automated SLR design will help researchers in the sustainability community accelerate the generation of works in that area by rapidly generating accurate literature reviews.
Open Access: Yes
Cooperation between the health visitor and the physician as one of the pillars of the 108-year-old Hungarian Health Visitor Service
Publication Name: Orvosi Hetilap
Publication Date: 2023-08-20
Volume: 164
Issue: 33
Page Range: 1311-1318
Description:
Introduction: Despite the more than 100-year history of the Hungarian Health Visitor Service, no study has yet been carried out that looked back at the cooperation between health visitors and physicians. Objective: Our aim was 1) to explore the professional advances of the health visitor service and the cooperation between health visitor and physician by examining historical documents, legal and professional regulations governing the work of health visitor, furthermore, 2) to investigate whether there are compulsory training elements in today's training for health visitors that prepare students for health visitor and physician collaboration, moreover, 3) to search for old tools and documents used by health visitors and doctors in the North-West of Transdanubia. Method: A literature search was carried out to identify documents relating to the development of the work of health visitors, the cooperation between health visitors and physicians, past and current legal and professional regulations, the current regulation on training of health visitors. Through field research, we tracked down old tools and documents of health visitors and physicians. Results: The establishment of the Hungarian Health Visitor Service is associated with the names of professors of medicine. The historical documents and regulations testify the development of the work of the health visitor, the expansion of her competences and the importance of the health visitor and physician cooperation. The training competences required for the cooperation between health visitors and physicians, health visitors and specialists are regulated by the regulation on training of health visitors. We have found many old objects and documents used in the work of the health visitor and doctor. Discussion: The documents that have preserved almost invariably describe the health visitor as a person working alongside the physician, in cooperation with the physician. Nowadays, the regulation of cooperation covers for all specialties in the field of health visitor. Conclusion: Based on our research, it is fair to say that the health visitor-physician cooperation is an important pillar of the 108-year-old Hungarian Health Visitor Service.
Open Access: Yes
Process synthesis considering sustainability for both normal and non-normal operations: P-graph approach
Publication Name: Journal of Cleaner Production
Publication Date: 2023-08-15
Volume: 414
Issue: Unknown
Page Range: Unknown
Description:
Process synthesis usually determines the normal operation of the process. In addition to the cost, recently, sustainability has also become essential in selecting the process. In case of failures of some redundant operating units of the process, it may still be operational as a non-normal operation. This work shows that the sustainability performance of a process in non-normal operation can be much worse than that of the normal case. Consequently, during process synthesis, it is essential to consider the sustainability of a process for both normal and non-normal operations. The current work is the first in offering synthesis of a process network taking into account a pre-specified limit of the process sustainability indicator for both normal and non-normal modes. This synthesis procedure is formulated in a general way, to interface with any sustainability indicator, expressed as a scalar, here Sustainable Process Index has been used in the case studies. The presented method is illustrated on two case studies to showcase the capability of synthesizing processes for multiple operation. The obtained results indicate that it is possible to simultaneously reduce environmental impact and process cost by more than 20%, by appropriate modification of the operating modes.
Open Access: Yes
Aflatoxin M1 detection in raw milk and drinking milk in Hungary by ELISA − A one-year survey
Publication Name: Journal of Food Composition and Analysis
Publication Date: 2023-08-01
Volume: 121
Issue: Unknown
Page Range: Unknown
Description:
The aim of this study was to monitor the aflatoxin M1(AFM1) contamination in raw milk and drinking milk in Hungary over a one-year period. A total of 474 milk samples of raw milk (n = 278) and commercial milk (n = 196) were collected and analysed between September 2021 and November 2022. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) determined the concentration of AFM1. It was found that 68.7% (191/278) of the raw cow milk samples were contaminated by AFM1 in the range 5.0–173 ng/L, the mean of the positive samples was 30.7 ± 24.7 ng/L, and the median was 21.8 ng/L. The percentage of contamination in drinking milk was 79.1% (155/196). The mean, median, and range of the positive samples were 18.0 ± 10.9 ng/L, 16.18 ng/L, and 5.3–100 ng/L, respectively. Overall, 9.4% (26/278) of raw milk samples and only 1 commercial milk sample of 196 (0.5%) contained AFM1 exceeding the maximum residue level (MRL) of 50 ng/L set by the European Union. Our study suggests that based on calculated AFM1-related health risk indicators, the Hungarian adult population are not exposed to high levels of AFM1, but regular monitoring of aflatoxins is necessary not only for dairy farmers but also for the milk processing sectors.
Open Access: Yes
Resources curse and sustainable development perspective: Fresh evidence from oil rich countries
Publication Name: Resources Policy
Publication Date: 2023-08-01
Volume: 85
Issue: Unknown
Page Range: Unknown
Description:
In recent years, many regions that are rich in natural resources have fallen behind other countries that have fewer natural resources in terms of economic growth. This study examines the role of resource rents on national income of Arab world over the period of 1989–2021. We use mineral and oil rents to capture the resource rents. In order to determine the long-term effects of resource rents on the national income of the Arab world, this study employs the econometric methods of DOLS and FMOLS. In addition to that, the FMOLS approach, which is an asymptotically unbiased and effective estimator, is utilized throughout this study. These approaches can help to address some of the issues that arise in the analysis of time series data, is used in this study to control for endogeneity as well as serial correlation. We find that oil rents are harmful for economic growth, which approves the resource curse phenomena in case of Arab world. The abundance of natural resources in the Arab world could persuade its officials to spend more money on consumption and less on investments in physical capital, which would be detrimental to economic progress. Moreover, reliance on natural resources can lead to a scenario known as the Dutch Disease.
Open Access: Yes
